The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 258: Sneaking Under the Sheets

There was no unpleasant surprise waiting for Lane this time when he entered Damien’s apartment late at night. Through the balcony, of course, after taking a shower at his own place first. With a T-shirt and a pair of joggers on - although Lane was proud of his slender, but nicely toned body, and normally would have no issues being seen in just a pair of boxer briefs, he had to admit it was rather awkward in front of his boyfriend’s sister. So, although there was no milk for him to leave in the fridge, and he jumped straight onto the master bedroom’s balcony, he still put on some extra clothes, just in case.

But there was no need for that, as it turned out, as the apartment was empty, save for Damien, who was already asleep in bed. Thus, Lane quickly jumped off the clothes again, and slid under the sheets, snuggling up to Damien.

"Mmmm... Lane?" Damien muttered, waking up as something - or someone - suddenly forced his way onto his bed, turning him into a firm and warm body pillow. "You’re back?" ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

It was much earlier than Lane had previously said. Before leaving, he had said he would be gone for up to a week, and yet, not even two days had passed, and he was already back.

Not that Damien complained.

"Mn, I’ve just come back a moment ago," Lane muttered, finding himself the most comfortable spot on Damien’s chest. "Did you miss me?"

"Mn."

"Hm?" Lane blinked, looking up at Damien’s face.

"I did," Damien just repeated.

"O-oh." Lane couldn’t help but pause, his heart skipping a beat. He wasn’t really asking seriously, he was just joking around, and teasing Damien... Most certainly, he didn’t expect such an earnest answer.

"Hahah, well, of course you did!" he eventually squeezed out a chuckle, but his chest felt oddly tight. And warm.

Damien only stroked Lane’s hair softly in response. Although Lane didn’t say he missed him back or anything, Damien didn’t mention it. Instead, after a long pause, he asked quietly, "Did you use your abilities?"

"H-huh?" Lane, who was already dozing off, flinched at the question, a bit startled. "What makes you think so?"

"Your wavelengths are more unstable."

"...You can tell?"

"Mn."

That’s right, Damien had that extraordinary wavelength sensitivity. It allowed him to recognize Lane even when he was possessing other people’s body, so it wasn’t that odd that he could also sense any instabilities. As for Lane, he indeed used his abilities a lot recently - first his Forbidden Zone trip with Damien, then hunting in that A-rank dungeon, and now his visit to Forbidden Zone No. 74... And he didn’t get any guiding. He was supposed to seek out some Guides before leaving the Zone, but since he left in such a hurry...

"Well, I did... stop by one of the Forbidden Zones to hunt some monsters," he said, admitting the truth (or at least a part of it). "But I didn’t use Possession. I promise!"

Of course, using any abilities without authorization (and license!) was illegal, but Damien didn’t point that out. He was already getting used to Lane’s nonchalant attitude and treating their legal system more like just a casual advice from some strangers, rather than something he had to abide by. Not that he wasn’t uncomfortable, but...

There were more important things for him to worry about. Such as... "What are you going to do about your guiding now?"

"Hmm? Oh, well. I can actually suppress it. See?" Lane altered his wavelengths, making them appear a bit smoother on the surface.

"Is that another ability of yours?"

"Not really. It’s just something I learned as I plundered guiding..." Not immediately, of course, it took Lane a lot of time to master guiding, and only then he discovered he could alter his own wavelengths a bit as well, but he didn’t say that out loud. There was no need to tell Damien about his past failures, now was there?

And Damien didn’t press for details, he just asked, "Then do you still need guiding?"

"Well, yeah. It’s only a temporary solution. I doesn’t reduce my need for guiding, but it allows me to hold on for longer," Lane explained.

"Is that so..." Damien went silent for a moment, before he reluctantly suggested, "Should I ask Sammy for help?"

"...What?"

"Samantha, I mean. You... had a great matching rate, right? I could ask her to come, she would be able to keep a secret..."

"Wait." Lane lifted himself up, getting a good look at Damien. "Are you considering asking your sister to give me illegal guiding under the table?"

Damien only furrowed his brows in response. Yes, he was extremely uncomfortable about it as well, to involve his sister in some illegal activities... But Lane needed guiding, right? Even if he could temporarily suppress it, it couldn’t possibly be good for him...

For a while, Lane just stared at his boyfriend’s frowny face, dumbfounded. Until eventually, he let out a soft chuckle.

"Well, thanks for your consideration, but there’s no need for that. I need to stop by ManaTech on Friday, so I will get some guiding from Ava then."

"That’s good then." Hearing his words, Damien exhaled with relief. Although he was the one to offer it... He was glad that there was no need to involve Sammy. He closed his eyes, about to get back to sleep.

"Ah, right," he spoke up all of a sudden. "You’ve said before that you need samples from Oscar Morales, so that Ava Hill could take a look at them, right?"

"Yeah, why? Did you get them already?"

"Not yet... But I can try to stop by the hospital today after work."

"Well, whenever you have time. I can always just drop them at Ava’s some other day."

"...I’ll try to get them anyway," Damien insisted. After all, the sooner Ava got the samples, the sooner she might discover how to solve the issue...

"Ah, one more thing." This time, it was Lane to break the silence. He pressed his lips, hesitating a bit, but eventually, he asked, "Can I get your samples as well?"

"My samples? What for?"

"It’s just that... Ava wanted to take a look. Due to your late awakening, and so on."

She had already asked Lane for it months ago... And Lane had plenty of opportunities to secretly snatch some samples, it was just that he... forgot. Or maybe he simply didn’t want to do it without Damien’s knowledge and consent, since he had already grown rather fond of the man?

Either way, the point was that a lot of time had passed, and Ava still didn’t get her samples. Now that Lane and Damien were together, though, and Damien knew Lane’s identity, he could finally ask for it openly...

And Damien agreed. "Okay," he just said simply.